Nintendo Land

UPC: 045496903008

Platform: Wii U

Publisher: Nintendo of America, Inc.

Developer: Nintendo EAD

Category: Action

Style(s): Multi-Genre Action

Synopsis: Nintendo Land is a virtual theme park with 12 Nintendo-themed attractions, or mini-games. Designed to show off the versatility of the Wii U GamePad, activities will use a combination of controls, some make use of the tilt function and others the touch screen. A number of games allow one user to play on the gamepad's screen while the remaining players use a television to view the action, either in full-screen or split-screen for up to four players. When playing with more than one user, the additional players must each have a Wii Remote controller.


While nine of the games can be played alone, three of them require a minimum of two players. The games for one-player only are "Balloon Trip Breeze," "Captain Falcon's Twister Race," "Donkey Kong's Crash Course," "Octopus Dance," "Takamaru's Ninja Castle," and "Yoshi's Fruit Cart." Those for one to five players are "Metroid Blast," "Pikmin Adventure," and "The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest." "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day," "Luigi's Ghost Mansion," and "Mario Chase" all require at least two players and support up to five. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide

If one of the goals for the Wii U was to differentiate it from the original Wii in the eyes of core gamers, then perhaps including a mini-game collection as a launch title wasn't the brightest of ideas. While the Wii has a diverse lineup of software, you'll have to shovel through a mountain of mini-game compilations to find it. Of course, this is a Nintendo title, so if the Wii U is going to have a mini-game collection, it might as well be designed by the people who know the system better than anyone else. Nintendo Land is a futuristic amusement park of sorts whose attractions are based on the publisher's most famous properties. Could Nintendo Land become as big a hit as Wii Sports?

It's highly unlikely. Wii Sports offered something that no other console could lay claim to: a convincing use of motion controls within familiar (albeit limited) sporting events. Everyone knows how to bowl, so the motion controller only added to the experience. The same can be said with golf, baseball, tennis, and boxing: people already understood the basic gestures involved, but Wii Sports let them actually perform the gestures by swinging and throwing in front of the television set.

Nintendo Land doesn't have that immediate recognition, as the included games are strange offshoots of such properties as Zelda, Mario, F-Zero, and Pikmin. While you will interact with each game in different ways, the use of the Wii U's distinctive controller at times feels odd and perhaps a bit too "forced" in some cases. Few games are <i>better</i> because of the control system, and some are arguably worse. In the end, Nintendo Land feels like a tech demo of the system's potential instead of a convincing argument on why the Wii U is better than the competition.

You begin the game by transferring one of your Mii characters into a largely empty amusement park that you'll populate with items over time. Your guide to the park is a female robot that sounds suspiciously like Agnes DiPesto from the '80s television series, Moonlighting. To play one of the activities, you can simply run toward a gate or choose a game directly from a menu screen. It's important to note that not all of the activities can be played solo, so you'll need some friends and a few Wii Remotes in order to get the most out of Nintendo Land. Unfortunately, none of the games can be played online, so your friends will have to share the same television screen.

The activities are strange. In the Zelda game, you and an optional partner will automatically follow a path while attacking various enemies in your way. One player can fire arrows, while the other can use a sword. The game is amusing for the first ten minutes, then the repetitiveness and shallowness of the combat will wear on your nerves more than Navi in Ocarina of Time. The Yoshi game is quite entertaining, but it's nothing that couldn't have been done on the DS. The television screen shows a number of treats and obstacles that Yoshi must eat or avoid on his way toward an exit, while the Wii U controller is used like a sketch pad to draw an optimal route.

The F-Zero game is one of the few titles designed in the spirit of the series on which it is based, so you'll be racing at high speeds across a futuristic course. The catch is that you'll be holding the Wii U controller vertically in one hand while rocking it back and forth to steer. Is this the best way to control a racing game? No, unless you like the danger associated with dropping a potentially expensive controller. The strange part is that the game can be completely played using the small screen, as the main television screen is more distracting then helpful.

There are some bright spots, however. The Donkey Kong-style game has you tilting the controller like an old-fashioned labyrinth game as you try to carefully move a wheeled platform across a hazard-filled course. The controls and physics are put to great use, and it's one of the more challenging titles in Nintendo Land. The rest of the titles are amusing in short bursts, particularly with multiple people crowded around the television set. Yet there's nothing in Nintendo Land that comes close to the replay value of either Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort, making it merely acceptable instead of a must-have showcase for the Wii U. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide